Lancaster BID Encourages Businesses to Stay Open Later

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The cheeriest season is just a few weeks away and people are already getting excited, ready for the celebrations. This is the time when people are generous with their time and money too. In Lancaster, the Business Improvement District (BID) is encouraging business owners to remain open as late as 9:00PM in conjunction with Boots’ late opening hours.

The BID has also prepared for the season where this will be holding street entertainment during Thursday nights. This will commence starting on Christmas Lights Switch-On which will be held on November 20th and will persist until Christmas day. The businesses will benefit from the activities from the foot traffic that it will bring because the entertainers will be set to perform at certain areas across the city.

To make sure that everybody will be inclined to participate, Lancaster BID Manager Rachel Wilkinson says that they have been checking plans with Healthy High Street partners. Included in their list are EE, Boots, Greggs, Wilko, and Marks & Spencer. They wanted to ensure that late night opening hours will be consistent across businesses.

While some stores close at 8:00PM, Wilkinson says that they are urging them to open as late as 9:00PM to make the most out of the season – the event does not happen every day and this could be their time to bank some extra revenue on the side. She even says that business owners can message BID on their social media channels. Those who want to participate may be allowed for the free entertainment to stay right in their front doors.

And for the visitors, Lancaster City Council offers free parking on car parks (excluding Marketgate Car Park) for Sundays and starting 6:00 PM on Thursdays.

BID wishes businesses a happy trading for the season – judging from the free entertainment, the business owners could be willing to even stay later than 9:00PM.